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Cycle Studio Makes Strides Against Parkinson's Disease

An indoor cycling studio in Mansfield is doing what medicine can't for people with Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder that affects movement, causes tremors and muscle stiffness and gets worse over time. (Published Friday, Feb. 16, 2018)

An indoor cycling studio in Mansfield is doing what medicine can't for people with Parkinson's disease, a neurological disorder that affects movement, causes tremors and muscle stiffness and gets worse over time.

Willie Brezell is the most active he's been in years, despite being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease 10 years ago.

"Before, I couldn't walk a flight of stairs. I couldn't cook. I couldn't do really anything," Brezell said. "Now, with my body feeling so much better, so much more energetic, I tackle problems that I shied away from."

His miracle medicine is cycling.

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Siblings and ice dancers Maia and Alex Shibutani visits NBC after winning bronze at Pyeongchang to talk about their unique sibling dynamics, future goals and life after the Olympics.

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Doctors say research has shown cycling helps stop symptoms of Parkinson's and can even slow down the progression of the disease itself.

"There's something repetitive about the cycling, where you're going in a forward motion, repetitively, again and again, and that must force a certain change in circuitry in the brain, and so for patients that are consistent cyclers we can see the benefit over time," said Dr. Robert Nieto, a neurologist at Methodist Mansfield Hospital.